If you were always curious about reindeer hearding but were afraid to ask…

Microspikes and poles are your friends.

Echos of Earl

In the 18 years I spent section hiking the Appalachian Trail I kept running into “Echos of Earl”. Earl Shaffer was the first-ever AT thru-hiker, completing the trail in 1948. In 1998 he came through on his third and final thru-hike at the age of 79. Ten years later I started my section hike. I ran into several people who knew Earl or had met him on his final thru-hike.

This is the oral history I picked up following Earl’s ghost on the trail. This is mostly from memory. Bits of it are undoubtedly wrong, muddled, confused or conflated. For much more accurate and complete information I highly recommend Earl’s own book about his ’48 hike, “Walking with Spring“, and anything put out by The Earl Shaffer Foundation. Tom Johnson’s history of the Appalachian Trail is also excellent and has a lot of coverage of Shaffer, Myron Avery, etc.

These are the verbal flotsam and jetsam of a hike that I picked up decades after the fact. My entries are ordered roughly south to north based on where I picked up the info or where the encounter happened.

1. The encounters

1.1. “Chuck Norris” at Laughing Heart Hostel

In 2020 I spent several nights at the “Laughing Heart” hostel in Hot Springs, North Carolina. The caretakers at the time were “Tigger”and “Chuck Norris”. “Chuck” told me that he had been hiking (thru-hiking I think) in Shenandoah National Park and came across Earl at Dark Hollow Falls near Big Meadows. IIRC Chuck said he had a crowd around him. This might have been because his hike was getting national attention (more on that later) or just because Dark Hollow Falls is popular and not too difficult. It’s slightly off the AT.

1.2. Bob Peoples, Kincora Hostel

In 2018 I stayed at Bob People’s “Kincora” Hostel in Tennessee. Again, IIRC, 1998 was about the first year Bob and his wife were welcoming hikers. Bob related a few stories about Earl on his final “long cruise”. In one he said Earl had a loaf of Wonder Bread as part of his food. Earl sat “right there” balling up the slices to carry out: “Same nutrition, less space”. Bob said he hiked with Earl some on that trip.

1.3. Shuttle Driver, Harpers Ferry

At some point on a day hike around Harpers Ferry I ran into a woman who was waiting to pick up some hikers to shuttle them. She said she had met Earl on his last thru-hike. A few vague stories that I think I got from her were that Earl did not hike with a tent (at least on his ’48 hike). He just had an old rain slicker, and when it rained he just sat under a tree at night. She also related that he often was able to get corn meal, flower or other cooking ingredients from people in the mountain farms that were more numerous then. He made what sounded like a flat bread out of whatever he happened to have. He had a name for it, but that has slipped my mind.

1.4. AT Hall of Fame, Pine Grove Furnace

When I sectioned through Pennsylvania I stopped at the AT Hall of Fame in Pine Grove Furnace. I had ice cream, but not the full “Half Gallon Challenge” the place is famous for. Apparently after his hike Earl built several shelters for hikers. He lived in Pennsylvania (“Rocksylvania” to many) and was active in trail maintenance for years. The hall of fame had one of the shelters he had built inside on display.

1.5. ALDHA Meeting

On one of my hikes (in New Jersey?) I met a hiker named “Hobbit”. Hobbit had written and recorded a collection of his own songs about the trail (“Unicoi Gap”, etc). Apparently Earl had written poetry and music as well. Hobbit was active in ALDAH, the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association. He related to me that he had been at one of the “Gatherings” and the leader asked everyone who had thru-hiked to stand up by decade. As he called off the decades in reverse order fewer and fewer people stood up. When he got to the 40s, there was one. Earl.

1.6. “Honey” at “The Cabin” in Maine

In 2022 I stayed with “Honey” at “The Cabin” in Maine. Honey was amazing. In her 90s she was still hosting hikers, driving shuttle (me) and cooking up a storm. In her youth she had helped carry wood up to build Lake-of-the-Clouds hut near the top of Mt. Washington. Her ?brother-in-law? had something to do with the trail going through Mahoosuc Notch. I’m pretty sure there were Joe Dodge stories, but that’s a different legend.

In ’98 as Earl was coming through southern Maine he based himself out of “The Cabin”. Honey and her husband “Bear” would shuttle him back each night. His hike was apparently national news. Honey told me that one day she went up into the Bigelow Range (might have the range wrong) twice in one day with a CBS camera crew looking for Earl. The picture at the top of this blog post is of Earl seated in the living room of “The Cabin” playing guitar seated next to Chester Dziengelewski,the first ever SOBO (Southbound) thru-hiker. When Earl died they bought some of his furniture at the estate sale. Some of it was in use in their downstairs hostel.

1.7. Sugarfoot, somewhere in southern Maine¹

I’ve hiked with “Sugarfoot” on part of a few of his attempts to thru-hike. He tells me he ran into Earl in 98 in southern Maine. Earl was hiking by himself at the time, despite the fact that he had a hiking partner for some/most of that hike (being out there alone at 79 may not be the wisest move … Ken :-)) To hear Sugarfoot relate it, Earl did nothing but complain and was not pleasant to be around.

I’d heard from several other sources that he was not a fan of the re-routes that had taken the trail off a lot of the roads it was on in the 40s (and 60s). To be fair, in my opinion, southern Maine is the hardest stretch of the trail. It’s one thing to do it when you’re in your 20s, another to do it in your early 60s (like I did), and still something else to try at 79. I can imagine comparing the current reality to the rosy visions of your youth.

So maybe he was having a bad day or maybe the years had taken their toll as they do on us all.

2. Final thoughs

The trail is an intensely social place. Each year as a new class of would-be thru-hikers works it’s way north or south there is a grapevine fueled by word of mouth, log book entries at the shelters, in hostels and more recently texting, various apps and web sites and the like. Each year as a new class of hikers starts, the old stories are mostly gone and new stories are being made. I found it interesting that 10 to 28 years on I was still able to pick up oral tradition from a man who first traversed the trail in 1948. It’s the stories that connect us. It’s the stories we share. Earl’s story was foundational for the AT and his memory lives on.

Footnotes:

¹

Sugarfoot informs me “I was southbounding Vermont and was nearly out of that ravine when Earl in pith helmet started down. I greeted him and we sat down on facing rocks about three feet apart. It started to rain lightly. I asked if he was going to put anything on. He answered, “Na, that’s for sissies.”… It started to rain harder, a real frog drowner. We couldn’t see each other and still he sat. Eventually he broke it off. I finished with the rocks and put on my rain suit … His biggest complaints were the rerouting of the trail away from towns and that no one wanted to hike with him.” For context, the hill in question was the last two miles downhill (NOBO) to Route 9 by Bennington, VT. I (George) hiked that last year. It’s nasty at the bottom. Rocks. Even with poles and no rain I was worried about breaking a leg for the last mile or so. Earl was about to come down that. In the rain. Without poles. At 79. Yikes !!!

2190 miles an 18 years later…

Today was 6 miles up to Madison hut.   3 miles in a little under 2 hours.  The next 4 took about 5 hours … 4000 feet up or so over Mt Madison (can you say “false peaks”?) with 50+ mph sustained winds with higher gusts, occasional rain that hit your face and stung and really fun footing.   I was never so glad to see a hut.  Inside.  Warm.  Dry.   The whites just wanted to give us final a reminder who’s boss.

Tomorrow we visit mssrs Adams, Jefferson and Washington for the finish.  Will have family and friends at the top.

I’m thankful for all the people who have helped me get this far, for the great people I’ve met and hiked with, for the beauty I’ve been privileged to experience: “all things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small…”

Today was the last major descent of my entire 18 year odyssey of hiking the Appalachian Trail.  Something like 2500 feet down from Mt Moriah.  On the last descent I tried something new: coming down without poles.  It worked.  My knees were less happy, but I think it was faster.  To the very end you keep looking for a better way.  That’s life.

We did 15 miles in 13: 40.  Carter notch hut to Rt 2/Gorham.  We skipped breakfast at the hut.  At the end we were pushing daylight, but the payoff is a full “zero” day with friends and family before the final ascent.  Snickers bites and adrenaline are your friends.

The end, literally, is in sight.

We arrive at the top of Mt Washington.

45 mph winds.  55 mph gusts.   37 degrees.  At least no rain No lightning!

We hiked 6 miles from mitzpah springs hut to to top of Mt. Washington with a stop at the lake-of-the-clouds hut.  Hot soup!  I saw the fabled “dungeon”, a six bunk emergency shelter in the basement.  We said goodbye to our friend “Utah” and friends who were checking in as we were leaving.

Layers are your friend in high winds.  The montbell rain jacket did the truck (thanks Ken).

My sun hat looked more like a bishops mitre in 55mph winds :-).   The frog-tog rain pants did the trick.

Zealand Falls hut.

These are mostly unedited daily notes to self:

– read 1st chapter of book about Joe Dodge.  He is a legend in NH hiking community.   Ran the huts from 1920s to 1959.  There are still stories about him.
– packed up
– breakfast at Zealand Falls hut
– ate with older ladies from NC that we hiked with for 3 nights
– the were 1st coed class at small liberal arts college in NC (starts with “b”)
– one was a doctor + PhD
– one’s dad was a CCC chaplain and had worked for Joe Dodge in the NH huts at 14 in 1942
– one had lost her husband 3 years prior and spread his ashes on Mt Garfield, his favorite peak(peak we crossed with old fire tower base)
– “Utah” didn’t make it into Zealand Falls.  The weather report (lightning) scared him off.  The ladies told us he got a hotel
– yesterday we skipped breakfast at galehead but and went out an hour and a half early to miss lightning
– it never came while we were hiking
– only small exposed stretch around mount guyot
– moral of the story: don’t trust weather reports (or don’t let them scare you)
– 3 or 4 miles of actual trail !!!
– 1st hill only bad climb
– start 6:45 in by 12:30
– talked to hikers
– “spicy” and her husband.  He hiked on in rain.  She did work for stay.
– “numbers” there with friend’s 7 year old boy
– other family with grandmother, parents and 3 grandchildren
– all 4 kids has a blast playing in rain puddles
– dinner and breakfast at hut … more than you could eat.
– “numbers” is a local.  Gave us good Intel on trails ahead
– our planned 16 mile day from Carter notch to Gorham might be too much for one day
– we changed plans: picking up our hiking gear early from hotel where we dropped it to allow camping, breaking that one up.  Would eat into “zero” day in Gorham
– very easy hike out to 302 from Zealand Falls.  7 miles NO climbs, flat trail
– old work/college friend met us, we went to rental (large place near ski lift)
– pack explosion
– laundry
– drove to Lincoln NH to get camping gear, food for possible overnight, snacks/bars for next 5 days of hiking, dinner
– I stopped back at store where I had purchased “Topo” trail runners and thanked sales person, “jay” for the good recommendation.  Good traction.  No blisters.  No scrunched toes.
–

Greenleaf hut and Mt Layfayett

This is a view of Mt Layfayett from Mt Lincoln with Greenleaf hut 1.1 miles out the arm.  It’s the little white dot on the left.   It was the first of 3 huts we’ve stayed at.  Beds.  Dinner and breakfast.

A large Russian speaking family (families?) came in around sundown on a day hike that took longer than they had planned (par for the course in these hills) and wound up spending the night.